The best return on the investment of your genealogical dollars is in genealogical societies. These local groups, large and small, are doors to your family's history. Many do not think of joining the local society if their ancestry was not in that area. Not only should you join the genealogical society in your area, but you should also join genealogical groups in the localities where your families have lived.

It is through the genealogical societies that you discover you are not researching in a vacuum. You find that there are others working with the same records and in the same localities. And sometimes you may find a cousin through the queries in their publications.

You are not researching in a vacuum.

Strength in Numbers

Membership is reasonable, varying from about $10 to $50 per year. Higher dues
are generally associated with the larger societies that offer additional benefits
to members, such as research services, newsletters, and book-lending. The value
in belonging is meeting others interested in this fascinating hobby, hearing
lectures on research tips, participating in workshops and seminars, and discovering
the genealogical sources in your backyard.

Many times I am asked how does a researcher learn about upcoming workshops
and seminars. Personally, I learn about these opportunities through my involvement
and membership in the various societies and also by reading the publications
they send.

Finding Societies

Genealogical societies, of which there are about 3,000 in the United States
alone, collect and publish records of their counties, cities and state. Local
societies often publish records, such as cemetery or marriage records, that
are not available anywhere else.

You can find the names of genealogical societies by consulting several sources.
One is the Genealogical Periodical Annual Index (GPAI). GPAIs are indexes to
information published in many periodicals, and most libraries have copies of
them. In them are the names of many societies, listed alphabetically.

A shortcut (and money-saver) to learning what has been published in genealogical
periodicals can be had by consulting all the GPAIs at your library. These have
been published since 1961 and are gold mines of information. Look under your
surnames of interest, topics of interest (such as adoptees, Civil War, black
genealogy, and methodology), and under locality (state, county and countries).

Another useful source for discovering what has been published by many of the genealogical societies is to search through the Periodical Source Index more commonly known as PERSI. This work is published annually through the Allen County Public Library in Ft. Wayne, Indiana and is available at many public libraries with genealogy collections.

In Conclusion

In addition to the published resources mentioned, you can also learn a lot by visiting your local library. Many genealogy departments will have periodicals from many different genealogy societies. Searching through some of them will give you an indication as to what they will offer.